Tag: First Nations Studies

The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) and the UW-Green Bay Teaching Scholars Program are proud to announce the names of eight individuals selected to be 2014-15 Teaching Scholars. They are UW-Green Bay faculty members Sawa Senzaki, Human Development; Aaron Weinschenk, Public and Environmental Affairs; JP Leary, Humanistic Studies/ First Nations Studies; Eric Morgan, Democracy and Justice Studies; Francis Akakpo, Social Work; and Jon Shelton, Democracy and Justice Studies. Also participating, courtesy of a UW-Green Bay partner institution, Bellin College, is Sherri Hanrahan. Joining the Teaching Scholars in her capacity as Instructional Design Coordinator is Joanne Dolan, who was appointed by CATL Director Jennifer Lanter. Each scholar will investigate a teaching issue and present his or her findings to the campus. Co-directors of the program, Associate Profs. David Voelker (Humanistic Studies and History) and Ryan Martin (Human Development and Psychology), note that numerous applications were received. The program, originated as part of the UW System’s Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars program, invites participation by early-and mid-career faculty members and gives them opportunities to enhance teaching and learning through research, collaboration and reflection.

UW-Green Bay was well represented last week during the UW System Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID) Faculty College, held at UW-Richland. Associate Prof. David Voelker and Prof. Regan Gurung presented a seminar titled “Going Behind the Scenes of the Learning Process: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL),” and Gurung also presented solo for a workshop titled “America’s Next Top Model: Evidence-Based Guidelines to Model Teaching.” Voelker also presented a session called “Rethinking Content Coverage,” while Associate Prof. Alison Gates paired with colleges from UW-Madison and UW Oshkosh to present a workshop titled “Feminist Research in the Arts.” Also in attendance for the three-day conference were Associate Prof. Adolfo Garcia and Assistant Prof. Alison Staudinger, in their capacities as Wisconsin Teaching Fellow and Wisconsin Teaching Scholar, respectively; as well as Associate Profs. Clifton Ganyard, Franklin Chen and Katia Levintova and Assistant Prof. JP Leary.

First Nations Studies Assistant Prof. JP Leary offered some context for a Saturday (Feb. 8) WLUK, Fox 11 News story on the upcoming State of the Tribes address. Scheduled for Thursday (Feb. 13) in Madison, the annual address is an important component of government-to-government communication, Leary said. He has attended all but one of the speeches. “Whoever is giving that address, whichever tribal leader is chosen, is speaking on behalf of all 11 tribes, not on behalf of his or her individual nation,” Leary told reporter Andrew LaCombe. “ … It’s important that we have an informed citizenry on these kinds of issues.” Craig Corn, chairman of the Menominee Tribe, had been scheduled to give the address at the time of the interview. But on Sunday, the tribe elected a new chairperson, Laurie Bolvin, who will deliver Thursday’s speech. Full story.

UW-Green Bay’s First Nations Studies Program and the Wisconsin Indian Education Association Mascot and Logo Task Force are collaborating on a day of discussion this Friday (Sept. 13) in the Phoenix Room of the University Union. “Operation Respect: A Forum on Stereotyping and the Legacy of Historical Misinformation about First Nations People Perpetuated by Sports Teams, Media and Schools.” The format of the event is highly participatory with discussion circles taking place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m, and participants coming and going as schedules permit. The forum will feature the Bittersweet Winds Exhibit and will center on the discussion of important topics including: empirical research versus opinion polls, understanding historical trauma, sports nicknames, images and the idea of honor, the use of race-based names in sports, and the media position on reporting about race-based mascots.

The summer issue of Mazina’igan, published by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, features a lengthy article by UW-Green Bay’s JP Leary of the First Nations Studies and Humanistic Studies faculties. Leary’s paper is titled “Act 31: Issues and Origins.” It recounts how the statute mandating K-12 instruction in Indian history, culture and tribal sovereignty became law in 1989 in the wake of much-publicized conflicts at northern Wisconsin boat landings as tribal members exercised their newly reaffirmed spearfishing rights. Indian communities and educators had high hopes at the time of the bill’s passage, Leary writes, but over the years that initial optimism faded, and some began to question the commitment of local schools, districts and the state Department of Public Instruction to promoting education about Wisconsin’s Indian people. On balance, however, Act 31 has been successful, Leary concludes. He cites recent positive indicators for state-tribal relations and efforts to teach First Nations issues. Download a PDF of the magazine and article.

The summer issue of Mazina’igan, published by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, features a lengthy article by UW-Green Bay’s JP Leary of the First Nations Studies and Humanistic Studies faculties. Leary’s paper is titled “Act 31: Issues and Origins.” It recounts how the statute mandating K-12 instruction in Indian history, culture and tribal sovereignty became law in 1989 in the wake of much-publicized conflicts at northern Wisconsin boat landings as tribal members exercised their newly reaffirmed spearfishing rights. Indian communities and educators had high hopes at the time of the bill’s passage, Leary writes, but over the years that initial optimism faded, and some began to question the commitment of local schools, districts and the state Department of Public Instruction to promoting education about Wisconsin’s Indian people. On balance, however, Act 31 has been successful, Leary concludes. He cites recent positive indicators for state-tribal relations and efforts to teach First Nations issues. Download a PDF of the magazine and article.

Visiting scholar Scott Stephenson, Ph.D., will be the guest presenter for the program “The Indian Fashion: Getting Dressed in 18th Century Native America,” scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, May 10, in the Union’s Christie Theatre. Co-sponsored by UW-Green Bay’s First Nation Studies program and the Oneida Nation Arts Program, the event is free and open to all. For background info, see our previous post.

Visiting scholar Scott Stephenson, Ph.D., will be the guest presenter for the program “The Indian Fashion: Getting Dressed in 18th Century Native America,” scheduled for 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, May 10, in the Union’s Christie Theatre. Co-sponsored by UW-Green Bay’s First Nation Studies program and the Oneida Nation Arts Program, the event is free and open to all.

Stephenson will address the fact that by the 1750s, most American Indian communities living east of the Mississippi River had more than a century of contact with various European colonizers and the imported goods that came with trade. Selectively adopting and adapting new materials, garments, and objects from their colonial neighbors and trading partners, communities across a wide swatch of Eastern North America developed a recognizable “Indian Fashion” by the eve of the American Revolution. This illustrated talk will survey the major elements of the 18th Century “Indian Fashion” through period art, objects, and written sources.

Stephenson, who holds a doctorate in American History from the University of Virginia, is a specialist in colonial and revolutionary era history with experience as a curator, historical interpreter, scriptwriter, and historical and visual consultant.

LaDuke (Anishinaabe), a graduate of Harvard and Antioch universities with advanced degrees in rural economic development, has devoted her life to protecting the lands and life ways of Native communities. In 1994, Time Magazine named her one of America’s 50 most promising leaders under 40 years of age, and in 1997 she was named Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year. Other honors include the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Thomas Merton Award, the Ann Bancroft Award, the Global Green Award and the prestigious International Slow Food Award for working to protect wild rice and local biodiversity. LaDuke served as Green Party candidate Ralph Nader’s running mate in the 1996 and 2000 presidential elections.

In addition to numerous articles, LaDuke is the author of “Last Standing Woman” (fiction); “All Our Relations” (nonfiction); “In the Sugarbush” (children’s nonfiction) and “The Winona LaDuke Reader.” Her most recent book is “Recovering the Sacred: the Power of Naming and Claiming” (2005, South End Press). LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi band of Anishinaabe. She lives with her family on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

LaDuke is founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, a reservation-based nonprofit devoted to restoring the land base and culture of the White Earth Anishinaabe. She helped found the Honor the Earth organization in 1993 and has served in a leadership position since its inception.

LaDuke’s presentation is sponsored by the UW-Green Bay Education Center for First Nations Studies, Environmental Management and Business Institute, and First Nations Studies and Women’s and Gender Studies programs.